Kate

I found myself thinking about that little mystical baseball movie while watching the emotionally powerful final moments of the “Lost” finale last night. Here was Jack and his dad meeting, not in a corn field, but a church bathed in light. There was vague talk of life on the other side. There was sadness and smiles. There was a father-son reconciliation. I practically expected them to break out the gloves and have a game of catch.

“This is a place that you all made together so you could find each other,” Christian tells his son. Ah yes, build it and they will come.

“Field of Dreams” is one of those films that frequently lands on those lists of movies that guys deem OK to cry — as if they’re trying to rationalize that they have actual feelings. And I’ll admit that those final moments of “Lost” got me (and my youngest son) a little misty. And I’m sure the feeling was mutual in living rooms across America.

But did the finale work for you?

I suppose that what we’ll find as we discuss those 2 1/2 hours with friends is that it was a very polarizing episode. The hardcore “Losties” who spent six years analyzing and dissecting every nook and cranny of the show for meaning have to feel somewhat disappointed (maybe even angry) today. The finale was woefully thin on answers. It’s almost as if producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse flipped them a giant bird and said take a hike.

But for fans who were always more concerned with character first (and I fall in this camp), the finale, for the most part, delivered the goods. It was tense, exciting, poignant, wittty, uplifting, inspiring and even cathartic.

Nearly every “awakening” proved to be a lump-in-the-throat moment — especially the one involving Sawyer and Juliet at the vending machine. There was a passionate kiss between Jack and Kate (Sorry, Skaters). There was a rollicking, cliff-side throw-down between Jack and Locke/Smokey. The episode had warm reunions and memories of better days and references to early episodes that longtime fans could appreciate.

And it had what everyone wants out of a TV finale: Some form of emotional closure. You’d have to have a heart made of stone not to be effected on some level while watching Jack stumble through the bamboo forest — where we first met him! — to reach his final resting place. But before he passes, we see a look of satisfaction come over his face as the plane from Hydra Island flies overhead. Ah, success at last. He found something he was able to fix. And then that eye (the very first image we saw in “Lost”) closes for a final time.

See you in another life, brotha. … Or another TV show.

So what did you think of the finale? Did all that religious imagery captivate you — or turn you off? did you want to see more of other characters (I wanted some kind of Desmond/Penny interaction)? Does the lack of answers have you wanting to lash out at Team Darlton?

Let us know what you think — either by leaving a comment here or by joining us on our live web chat at noon (PST) today by clicking here.

Last night’s “Lost” episode was Kate-centric, with its “flash-sideways” pegged to her run from the law (in L.A.) and from the temple people (on the island). But it was the travails of poor Sayid that really caught our attention and pushed the saga in an intriguing direction.

Having just been revived in the temple’s mysterious Jacuzzi, Sayid is tortured by Dogen, the grand poo-bah (Oh, karama is indeed a bitch). Dogen places some cartoonish electrode gizmo on Sayid’s head and thrusts a red-hot poker into his torso as Jack continues to stew outside. But eventually, Dogen explains to Jack that they’re not torturing Sayid, but testing him. (Maybe it’s just a 50,000-mile tune-up).

“We believe he has been claimed,” temple guy says. “A darkness is growing in him.”

And then, the final zinger … “It happened to your sister.” The comment is followed by a quick cut to a raggedy, wild-eyed Claire in the jungle, acting all Rousseau-like and shooting people. It is the first we’ve seen of Claire on the island for over a season.

Dogen’s line about being “claimed” suggests that Sayid’s body has been taken over by someone — or something — else (Jacob? The Man in Black?) and this sort of thing has been happening for ages. Claire seems to be possessd by something or someone and we know dead Locke has been taken over by the Man in Black/Smoke Monster (At least we think we know).

And now a few past incidents may be coming into a deeper focus. Apparently, the temple waters were used to save young Ben after Sayid shot him (Recall at the time, Richard warned the castaways that, while Ben’s life could be saved, he would never be the same).

I’ve been on a lot of TV and movie sets during my newspaper career, but I had never visted the set of a soap opera — until this summer.

In July, my editor, Ardua Harris, and I dropped by the historic Prospect Studios in the Los Feliz neighborhood of L.A. to hang out with the “General Hospital” gang and, more specifically, to interview Maurice Benard, a Martinez native and one of the most popular soap stars around.

I immediately learned that all the things I’d heard about the fast-paced world of soaps were true: They really do burn through the script pages at lightning speed. They really do turn scenes around in a snap. I can recall being on the set of “Deadwood” once and watching the crew literally spend a couple of hours (or more) on 30 seconds of dialogue. At “GH,” they shoot several scenes in that amount of time. Continue Reading →

We’ll have to wait until early next year to enjoy fresh episodes of “Lost” on ABC, but the mind-blowing plane-crash drama is finally coming to syndication this week.

G4 is airing nightly episodes of the show “in 2.0,” which means the episodes will be enhanced with on-screen facts and creator commentaries. Sounds like a good way for neophytes to jump on TV’s most mysterious drama without inflicting too much brain damage.

The episodes, airing at 9 p.m., start off with that turbo-charged two-hour pilot, in which we meet Jack, Kate, Sawyer and all the gang.

Some of my favorite “Lost” episodes feature spooky stuff in the way of ghosts and/or visions. That’sÂ exactly what we had last night as Future-Jack was visited by ominous visions of his dad, Christian,Â and Hurley spoke of messages deliverd by a long-dead Charlie. Ohhh, feel the chills.

Of course, those whoÂ enjoy the romantic entanglements of “Lost”Â mainly will be talking this morning about how the Jack-Kate-Sawyer love triangle plays out in the future: Jack is living (and showering) with Kate and raising Claire’s boy, Aaron.Â And it looks as if they’re on the brink of marriage as Jack presents Kate with aÂ big glittery rockÂ and she tearfully says, “yes.”

But all is not bliss (This is “Lost,” after all). We see the beginnings of Jack’s scary plummet into drug addiction — and paranoia. He starts to hound Kate about her unexplained whereabouts during the day, until she finally breaks down and admits, “I was doing something for Sawyer.” Continue Reading →

A chat with “Lost” executive producers Damon Lindlelof and Carlton Cuse isÂ always a delicate dance.Â On one hand, they’re very accessible and engaging and they exude the passion of true TV fans. On the other, they have secrets to guard and they’ll only go so far in their discussion of the show.

Of course, that’s how it should be.

Next Thursday, “Lost” returns from aÂ break necessitated by the writers strike — in a new time slot (10 p.m., ABC) and we’re being promised some “large and seismic events.” Damon and Carlton took some time onÂ Thursday toÂ speak with reporters during a conference call. Here’s a rundownÂ of some of the topics they covered:

– On how the second half of the season will be more “epic” than the first: â€œThe first half ofÂ a season is setting up the dilemmas for the characters, and then in the second half, we try to pay those off,” Carlton said. “The thing that was frustrating about the writersâ€™ strike was that we has just done the setup part of the season then we had to stop for 100 days. But then when we came back, we got the chance to fulfill all of our narrative desires and so all the stuff we set up in the first half of the season is going to pay off. Obviously weâ€™re missing a lot of pieces between that flash-forward we saw at the end of last season — how the OceanicÂ 6 got off the island and what connects to that event and we also are going to move forward from that point in time.” Continue Reading →

Here’s the TV Freak take on the latest episode of “Lost.” If you haven’t watched it yet, proceed accordingly:

WhenÂ Kate made her brief appearance in last season’s stunning flash-forward, many of usÂ were leftÂ dealing withÂ two nagging head-scratchers:Â Why was she not in jail?Â and Who was the “he” she needed to get home to?

Tonight we got our answers in another breath-taking, mind-blowing episode.

The latestÂ flash-forward reveals that Kate, indeed, was taken into custody by authorities (we see her inÂ jail togs) and sheÂ is facingÂ trial on a laundry list of charges, including murder.Â But fortunately for her, she has become a sympatheticÂ figure in the eyes of the publicÂ – a world-famous member of the Oceanic 6. And that image has been greatly enhanced by a lie Jack hasÂ concotedÂ that paints her as a hero who saved lives following the crash of Flight 815.

But even more beneficial to Kate is the fact that the lead witnessÂ for the prosecutionÂ – her mother! — is close to death and, in a move to make peace with her daughter, has decided not to testify. And so with the case in tatters, Kate plea-bargains her way to freedom (on a restrictive probation). Continue Reading →